Bottomz Up! [DIY Wipz]

Having a pack of baby wipes around is useful at times- my favourites are Mamia from Aldi [at first I misread it, and thought they said Narnia so that's what I call them now] 

But Liz being both thrifty and concerned about recycling decided that she wanted to check out re-usable ones before the baby arrives. 
There are loads of these on the market - basically a plastic box, containing washable cloths, with a moistening solution - and in deluxe sets, a second box for soiled cloths.


But they cost a lot of money - some over £30 a set. So we set about making our own for less than a fiver.

You need a pack of 10 IKEA washcloths [£3] and two plastic storage containers, with clip lids, about 16cm square. these were 2 for a quid in the £ shop]
Cut the cloths in half and hem the cut sides. You now have a stack of 20 cloths.

With a sharpie, mark lid AND base of the two boxes to show 'clean' and 'dirty'  [I did smiley/sad faces] Job done!

Well - almost - you do need to moisten them. Some people like to keep a spray bottle of solution by the changing table, and mist baby's bum as the nappy is changed [I am sure I would end up squirting the wriggling child in the eye] 

But most pour the solution in the box to keep the cloths moist and ready for use. There are lots of recipes for solution out there on the internet - the most common seems to be

• 1 cup of water
• 1 tsp baby bath/shampoo
• 1 tsp baby oil
• 10 drops of essential oil [tea tree or eucalyptus]

Shake this vigorously, then pour over your stack of cloths in the box, to saturate them. 

We decided to use half-size facecloths because a lot of the time, a smaller cloth would do - and you can always use two if really necessary. Folded once, these rectangles fit neatly into the box. 

I know this is perverse, as I am a real pedant about spelling usually, but on shopping lists, I almost always spell wipz [like beanz] with a 'z'. And sox, chox, and bix get an 'x' [my Mum did that too - it must be hereditary]